Community Garden Grants 2026

April 2026

The National Garden Scheme announces nearly £300,000 in funding for 118 community garden projects across England, Wales and Northern Ireland 

To help celebrate Community Gardens Week (31 March – 6 April) the National Garden Scheme is delighted to announce the distribution of £294,241 of funding to 118 community garden projects across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, supported by the Julia Rausing Trust.

This latest funding brings the total amount given to community garden projects since the programme began to almost £1.5 million (£1,486,855) supporting over 600 community projects.

Commenting, Chief Executive of the National Garden Scheme, Dr Richard Claxton said:

“The National Garden Scheme Community Garden Grants have become a lifeline for so many projects around the country – seeking to provide cohesion, connection, healing, growth and productivity for both individuals and groups of people from all walks of life. 

“I’m very proud that we are able to support so many of these projects and delighted to see the range and variation of them. The extraordinary generosity of the Julia Rausing Trust is having a huge impact in helping communities find green-space solutions to the problems that they face. 

“It’s a privilege and a pleasure for the National Garden Scheme to help the Trust create this impact, and I’m looking forward to seeing each project thrive and grow.” 

From social welfare and gardening projects that help the isolated, the disabled and the disenfranchised to support for community orchards, food banks and social prescribing projects at GP surgeries, the funding provides a much-needed boost to those working on or initiating community garden projects throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland.  

Lead Image/ Liz Mitchell: The Wonky Garden, Cheshire received National Garden Scheme Community Garden Grants in 2020 and 2024 and opens for us in 2026. The flower garden is the show garden, the focus for horticultural therapy/nature based activities. It has large herbaceous borders, trees and shrubs, planting focussing on the senses and wildlife. ‘We grow masses of edibles and cut flowers in the allotment (for gifting to our community) and The Yard has a massive greenhouse, workshop, activity shelter and Friendship Garden.’ For details see below.

Giving that gives back

Many of the funded community projects in turn open for the National Garden Scheme inviting the wider community to see first-hand the success of their work and raising funds for other good causes, completing a virtuous circle of giving and giving back.    

Examples opening in 2026 include: 

Growing Space, Gwent Find a Garden | National Garden Scheme  

Herefordshire Growing Point, Find a Garden | National Garden Scheme  

Wonky Garden, Cheshire Find a Garden | National Garden Scheme  

Shakespearean Garden, Manchester Find a Garden | National Garden Scheme 

Chitts Hill Allotment & Garden Society, London Find a Garden | National Garden Scheme

Lover’s Lane Community Garden, Cumbria Find a Garden | National Garden Scheme

Refugee Support Devon (RSD) Find a Garden | National Garden Scheme

Distribution of funds

More about National Garden Scheme funding and Gardens and Health programme 

In addition to the National Garden Scheme’s annual donations to nursing and health charities, the charity has been funding community gardening projects since 2011 when the awards were set up in memory of Elspeth Thompson, the much-loved garden writer and journalist who died in 2010. Elspeth was a great friend and supporter of the National Garden Scheme; she also wrote an admired ‘Urban Gardener’ column in the Sunday Telegraph that often celebrated community gardens. The programme honours Elspeth’s memory and supports the community gardens she loved. 

In 2024 the Julia Rausing Trust announced a £1.5 million grant to support the National Garden Scheme’s Community Garden Grants programme.

Since the Community Garden Grants began, almost £1.5 million (£1,486,855) has been donated to over 600 community projects. 

The Community Garden Grants (CGG) form part of the wider National Garden Scheme’s Gardens and Health programme which in 2025 saw the total funding for Gardens and Health projects exceed £3.5 million. It is a milestone on which the charity intends to build in the coming years, not only funding more garden projects in healthcare settings but also in the community for the benefit of individuals and diverse groups, enabling more people to have access to gardens and to discover the benefits they will find there. To discover more about the Gardens and Health programme, including recent funding for nurse-led community garden projects in partnership with our founder and beneficiary the Queens Institute of Community Nursing (QICN) and the projects it supports visit our website at: https://ngs.org.uk/gardens-and-health-week/   

Find out more about projects on Instagram at: 
The National Garden Scheme (@ngscommunitygardens) • Instagram photos and videos 

Find out who received a grant in 2026

To see all community garden projects funded since 2019 click on the map below